Officials raid shops, hotels in Dharwad

Food was being prepared in unhygienic conditions and permit licences were not renewed

Official teams of the departments of Food and Civil Supplies and Health and food inspectors of the Hubballi-Dharwad Municipal Corporation (HDMC) raided over 80 shops including bakeries, hotels, khanavalis and milk parlours here on Friday.

The raids were headed by Food and Civil Supplies Deputy Director Sadashiv Mirji and HDMC Food Safety officer K. Shivakumar. There were three teams comprising six officials each.

Shops in the main market area, Saptapur and Srinagar Circle were raided and two khanavalis, three hotels, a bakery and a milk parlour were sealed.

It was found that these shopkeepers had failed to adopt food safety norms and were preparing and serving food in unhygienic conditions. Some of the hotels had not allowed the suppliers and cooks to undergo medical treatment, while others had not renewed their permit licences. The officials sealed Damodar Hotel and Rupali Hotel in front of the Central Bus Terminus, and Dosa Den located at the basement near Hedge Medicals.

The officials also raided Royal Kitchen located at the entrance of Akkipeth and have warned the hotel owner of legal action if food safety measures were not adhered to. There were complaints from the public about this hotel using artificial colours and some banned chemical substances to prepare food.

The officials found that at the Hiremath Khanavali and Prabhu Khanavali located near the CBT, the rice being used was of sub-standard quality, the vegetables were rotten and the kitchen was in a poor condition. Sri Krishna Bakery located in the same area too was sealed.

Fungus on cup cakes

The officials found fungus on cup cakes and there was a foul smell from snacks like chips and others because low quality oil was used to prepare them. The bakery was selling branded biscuits whose expiry date was over, Mr. Shivakumar said. The officials had issued warning to the bakery owner thrice, but he had not adhered to safety norms. The bakery has been sealed. The soft drinks stored in the refrigerators too had expired a year ago.

As the monsoon has arrived, the hotels and restaurants have to adopt precautionary measures to contain outbreak of epidemics, the officials said.

The raids will continue for another week. All the hotels and eateries which fail to adopt the norms would be sealed, they said.

At a Nandini milk parlour located near the Regal Circle, the officials found that the expiry date of several Nandini products kept for sale had expired three months ago. The officials took to task the owner of the milk parlour and directed for its closure.